Up My Hockey with Jason Podollan – Details, episodes & analysis

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Ever wondered what it takes to turn early promise into collegiate success? Join us as we sit down with Luke Buss, a Wisconsin Badger hockey player, who candidly shares his remarkable journey from his formative years at Shattuck St. Mary's to topping the BCHL charts and ultimately playing for his dream school. Luke's story is a compelling blend of resilience, dedication, and the heartwarming importance of being a good teammate, offering deep insights for both aspiring players and their parents.

In our conversation, Luke dives into the often complex reality of NCAA recruitment and the emotional rollercoaster of moving from junior hockey to higher levels of play. He opens up about the highs and lows of his career, including a particularly tough season that tested his fortitude. You'll find out how a crucial mindset shift, spurred by his father's advice and the support of his mindset coach, helped him overcome obstacles. His transparency provides valuable lessons on building confidence, embracing challenges, and viewing setbacks as stepping stones to success.

Finally, we underscore the transformative power of a supportive community and authentic relationships with coaches. Hear Luke recount how maintaining consistency and preparation led to an outstanding season, and how focusing on his teammates' success often fueled his own. This episode celebrates Luke's achievements and unwavering commitment to his dreams, delivering a powerful narrative on the value of grit, resilience, and the profound impact of personal and team growth in the world of hockey. Whether you’re a player, a parent, or a fan, Luke’s journey is sure to inspire.

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In this episode of the Up My Hockey Podcast, host Jason Podollan welcomes a remarkable young talent, Zac Funk. At just 20 years old, Zac is already making waves in the hockey world. Last year, he had an outstanding season with the Prince George Cougars, boasting an impressive 68 games played, 67 goals, 56 assists, and a total of 123 points that earned him a free agent contract with The Washington Capitals.

Zac's journey in hockey is nothing short of inspiring. Before his time with Prince George, he played for the Calgary Hitmen, Kelowna Rockets, and Fraser Valley Thunderbirds. His early years saw him honing his skills at Yale, setting the stage for his future successes.

Join us as Zac shares insights into his phenomenal season, his development as a player, and what lies ahead in his promising career. Whether you're a fan, a player, or simply love the game, this episode is packed with valuable lessons and inspiring stories.

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Conor Geekie has had a crazy 12 months - a deep playoff run with the Winnipeg Ice, a sudden franchise relocation to Wenatchee with a change of coaching staff, Coyotes Development Camp and Main Camp , a terrific start to his third WHL season and a selection to Team Canada and a ticket to Sweden for the World Junior Championships. 

Geekie got a lot of attention in Sweden. Whether it was hanging and joking with his new best friend Macklin Celebrini, the size of the tape knob on his stick, his warm up routine, or his 5 minute major and game misconduct 11 seconds into the Germany game... Geekie seemed to find a way into the spotlight.

At 6'4" and over 200 pounds, Geekie is naturally hard not to notice. But when you combine his size with his infectious smile and skills on the ice, he becomes impossible to miss. 

Conor Geekie is used to the attention though. Not only has he always been in the spotlight himself - a 2nd overall WHL draft selection and an 11th overall selection in the 2022 NHL entry by the Arizona Coyotes - he was able to watch his older brother and mentor,  Morgan Geekie of the Boston Bruins, blaze the trail before him.

Backed a strong and supportive family, Conor carries a maturity with him that is well beyond his years.

In this episode, Connor Geekie reflects on the unpredictable nature of hockey, his NHL journey, and being selected 11th overall in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. Despite recent changes like his team’s move to Wenatchee, being traded to the Swift Current Broncos, and joining the World Junior Team, Connor has maintained impressive stats in the WHL season. His older brother, Morgan Geekie of the Boston Bruins, acts as his mentor. The conversation highlights Connor’s free-spirited nature and the significance of self-awareness for peak performance, alongside the complexities of a player’s public image and fitting into team dynamics. The conversation also stresses the importance of balancing enjoyment with readiness before games to maintain competitiveness without affecting personal relationships.

We get into it all in this episode. I hope you enjoy it.

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Not many players can say their first NHL training camp happened at 28 years old, but Derek Ryan can. 

Derek’s road to the NHL was not typical. It was so far from typical you might think it was made up. However, that is one of my favorite things about sports… it’s real.  

Derek never got drafted. 

Derek never signed as free agent out of junior. 

He played Canadian University hockey for 4 years. 

Doc played 3 seasons in a mediocre Austrian league. 

Then he moved to Sweden for 1 year. 

Then signed a 2-way NHL contract at 28 years old. 

Derek recently signed a 3 year contract for over 9 million dollars with the Calgary Flames. 

You can’t make this stuff up! 

Lots of lessons in this one and you will hear some familiar themes: professionalism, trust, character, relationships, mental toughness, perseverance. 

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Dane Jackson was a what some might call a journeyman pro hockey player.

He was drafted in the 3rd round by the Canucks and went on to play 671 AHL games 45 NHL games with 8 different teams.  He wore a letter (C or an A) on 5 of those teams and was recognized as a leader throughout his career.

Dane took the role of leader seriously. He knew what it took to be a professional - consistency, preparation, integrity... and HE MADE THOSE AROUND HIM BETTER. 

True leaders lift others up and Dane had a remarkable ability to do just that. In this episode we uncover just how valuable his presence was to other aspiring players toward the end of his playing career.

When you have a 600 game NHL veteran,  reflecting on their career saying, "I wanted to be like Dane Jackson," you know you have a special individual on your hands.

After his retirement Dane entered the coaching ranks and has been a part of the staff at University of North Dakota, his alma mater, for the past 15 seasons. He loves giving back to those who want to be better and in this episode we talk about all the intangible "human" traits that make you a better hockey player.

When I originally requested this interview, my main motivation was to untangle some of the controversy of the Mitchell Miller saga. Miller was playing for Jackson at UND prior to his release from the program. Although we do touch on Mitchell, this interview turned out to be much much more than that.

Dane Jackson is a class act. He is a leader. He also happens to be a great coach and role model.

I am honored to have him on the pod.

Enjoy this fantastic guide on how to be a better leader, teammate, and high performer.  

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I don’t have the space to list all the accomplishments of Jarome Iginla. 

“First ballot Hall of Famer”, is the one accolade that sums up his career perfectly. In my opinion, he was also the greatest power forward of his era.

1554 NHL regular season games

81 NHL play-off games

625 career goals

1300 career points

1 Art Ross 

2 Rocket Richard's

2 Memorial Cups

2 Olympic Gold Medals

1 World Championship

1 World Junior Championship

1 win away from a Stanley Cup

Like I said, we could go on and on about what Iggy accomplished on the ice, but Jarome was also a Hall of Famer off the ice.

Character, class, integrity, leadership, and professionalism are all apt adjectives for Jarome. He was a leader of men and also a leader in the community. 

For all you hockey players out there who are looking for a role model – on and off the ice – pick Iggy. He treats people right, he’s humble, he’s grateful, he’s gritty and he was a fierce competitor. He is the exact type of person you want to build a franchise around and model your game after.

The Calgary Flames and their fans were blessed to have him for 15 seasons. NHL fans everywhere were blessed to watch him suit up for 20 seasons.

In this interview we discuss the evolution of Jarome Iginla – from player, to star, to captain, to father, to coach.

Enjoy the conversation.

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When Ken Reid called me and asked if I’d like to be a part of his new book called “One To Remember”, I wasn’t sure what to say. Ken wanted to tell the stories of various players who scored a grand total of one NHL goal in their careers.  

I liked the idea, but a piece of me didn’t want to deal go down that road. 

Telling the story about my one NHL goal would require me to admit there should have been more and perhaps have to explain why I underachieved. 

For me, my one goal has always been an example of failure. Failure to have the career I dreamed of. Failure to step into my potential as a player. Failure to figure out how to become an NHL regular. 

But working on the book with Ken helped to change that a little bit for me.  

He made me recognize what a huge accomplishment ONE goal is. Scoring a goal in the NHL has only been done by 5000 other humans… ever. So regardless of what could have been, might have been, or should have been, I did score a goal in the greatest league in the world.  

That goal represents pints of blood, buckets of sweat and pools of tears that were donated to its pursuit. Countless hours on busses, at the rink and riding the bike invested in the chase for more. But for some of us, there was only one and that “ONE To Remember” can never be taken from us. 

Thank you Ken for reminding me that my goal against Ron Hextall and the Philadelphia Flyers is something to be proud of, not something to look at with embarrassment. 

This a great conversation with one of the nicest guys in the game. Ken Reid is a grinder, a professional, and he knows how to treat people. He also knows how to tell a pretty damn good story! 

 There are lots of parallels we can take from Ken’s journey to the mountain top… intention, coachability, accountability and practice. Want to be good at something? Grab those 4 traits and I like your chances. 

Please enjoy my interview with Mr. Ken Reid. 

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I am sitting at my desk trying to write an episode description for myself and it's weird.

I have been looking at my keyboard for a while now, and not sure how to do this. Perhaps I should begin with how it came to be.

Nick Konarowski is a Maple Leaf fan, a sports memorabilia collector, and a fan of Up My Hockey. He was also starting his own podcast called “Jersey Stories” when he asked me if I’d be willing to interview for it. Apparently, my first game with the Maple Leafs was also his first game watching the Maple Leafs live, so it seemed appropriate for us to talk.

Nick conducted a great interview and I enjoyed being his guest. However, prior to releasing my episode, Nick’s employer thought "Jersey Stories" might be a conflict of interest and asked him to stop producing the podcast. So that left him with my episode in the can and one that would never be heard. 

We came up with the idea that I should use it as an episode for Up My Hockey.

Once I got past my hesitation and resistance to publish a personal episode, I concluded that it made sense and I had to get over my own insecurities. Since my story is the reason why this podcast exists, I realized it deserved to be told. 

Nick and I get into all the good stuff… Spokane, my draft year, my draft day and the CRAZY Cliff Fletcher story, World Junior gold, my trades, pro hockey and a whole lot more. We also finish with three stories about my favorite pieces of memorabilia that I enjoyed sharing.

There is also a story about a horse. I’m shaking my head just thinking about it.

I hope you enjoy my story… this in the story of Jason Podollan.

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If you look up Jarred Smithson on HockeyDB, you’ll probably notice something pretty quickly – Jarred never scored a lot of goals.  He never had more than 12 in a season as a pro and topped out at 14 in junior. 

He wasn’t drafted in bantam. 

He wasn’t drafted by an NHL team either. Twice he was passed over. 

But he did play 606 games in the best league in the world.

Smithson went on to play 10 straight seasons in the NHL after breaking through as a 26-year-old with the Nashville Predators. 

Some younger athletes might be asking how he did it? Most of them think only the super skilled players that score all the goals and get all the points go on to the glory of the NHL. But that’s just not true, and you see it time and time again. 

Smithson played 600 games in the NHL because he embraced a role, and he did it well. 

He perfected his face-offs. He played with energy. He hit. He knew how to play defense and be reliable in his own end. His coach could trust him. He killed penalties.  He would defend his teammates. He was a good teammate and well-liked in the dressing room. 

This is not to say Jerred wasn’t skilled - you must be incredibly good at all aspects of your game to play regular minutes at that level - but Smithson never tried to be something his coach didn’t want him to be. He knew his role and he filled that role with pride and to the best of his ability.

This conversation is filled with lessons. Perseverance. Belief. Passion. Coachability. Accountability. Resilience. I know you’ll enjoy it.

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Dampy Brar, former pro-hockey player and co-founder of Apna Hockey was recently named the winner of the 2020 Willie O'Ree Community Hero Award at the NHL Award's Banquet.  

Dampy also happens to be a member of the “Up My Hockey – Parent Group” I host on Facebook.  

The Parent Group is a private group dedicated to hockey families all over North America and designed to be the ultimate hockey resource for parents to successfully navigate the journey of their aspiring players. 

One of my habits within the group, is to personally welcome new members by greeting them on Messenger. When I messaged Dampy, his name got my attention - I had never met a “Dampy” before – but I was also curious about his profile picture. He was wearing hockey gear and clearly looked like a pro or junior player. 

I almost never asked him, but my curious nature got the best of me, and I asked if he played pro before. We ended up having a short conversation over Messenger and it was eventually unveiled that he won the Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award (moral of the story – be curious and interested about the people you meet!). 

I quickly invited Dampy for an interview and he graciously accepted. I am so thankful for our fateful encounter. Hearing the stories directly from hockey ambassadors like Dampy, who are tirelessly dedicating their energy towards our youth athletes and growing the diversity of the game is powerful. 

Black, brown, yellow, white, Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Sikh, boy, girl, straight or gay… hockey is a game for everyone. Diversity is a strength, but right now it is a weakness in our sport. We collectively need to make it more accessible and more inclusive to all. 

Dampy’s organization, Apna Hockey, has a mandate to increase participation and social change in hockey within the South Asian community across Canada. Apna hockey ensures South Asian players have access to mentorship and hockey programs in major cities across Canada.  

Dampy is doing his part to diversify hockey, and by listening to this conversation you are doing your part to promote hockey’s evolution. Understanding the struggles, and successes of people from backgrounds different than our own, allows us to connect on a human level. Greater awareness equals greater understanding and empathy.  

It means we can all be a part of the cultural shift to end racism. And if we can make our hockey arenas a safe and inclusive place for all, we are off to an amazing start. 

So without further ado, I bring you my conversation with Dampy Brar, hosted live in the Up My Hockey – Parent Group. 

Enjoy the conversation.